


Media Matters

by cakeisnotpie



Series: Clint and Phil (MCU Avengers Universe) [30]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Clint loves talking about his husband, How to fight bigotry and racism, Human Liberation Front, Human's First, Hurt Clint Barton, Interviews, Kid Fic, M/M, Mutant Registration, Newspaper Articles, Propaganda, Rumlow's an asshole, Sokovia Accords, about what happens in "The Inevitable Spring", along with an indepth interview with Hawkeye, and his kids, but we knew that, it's a series of news paper articles, seriously I don't know how to tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 22:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18214403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cakeisnotpie/pseuds/cakeisnotpie
Summary: How do you fight bigotry and racism?  Superheroes can punch and shoot and magic their way through almost anything, but this? People who want to hurt their kids?  Clint and Phil take a different approach to combat the spreading ideology of The Watchdogs and the Human Liberation Front.This installment consists of four news articles -- an in-depth interview with Clint for Vanity Fair, an expose of Senator Stern for the New Yorker, an investigative piece by Eddie Brock about Trask Industries, and a portrait of Brock Rumlow, HaLF member, for the New York Times -- written in the journalistic style of each outlet.





	1. The Amazing Hawkeye!

**Author's Note:**

> Normally the stories in this Phlint MCU series are one-shots, but this time it makes more sense to have separate chapters. Each chapter is a news article from a different news outlet. I've tried to mimic the style of the different papers as well as choose journalists that make sense for the type of story. Eddie Brock gets an investigative breaking news piece. Ben Ulhrich I saddled with my own riff on that terrible New York Times piece about white supremacists that ran last year (I've linked it at the start of that chapter so you can go get angry too), using Brock Rumlow as the humans' first member. Ronan Farrow, the real-life journo who broke the Harvey Weinstein story, gets the New Yorker expose on Senator Stern, and Sally Ford, another Marvel journalist, gets the very unenviable task of interviewing our baby Clint. 
> 
> I really enjoyed writing these. My undergrad degree is in journalism and it's been a long time since I used it to any degree. Plus I got to play with formatting and pictures and writing in very active voice. I have to admit I needed a shot of whiskey after writing the Rumlow piece, but I'm inordinately proud of how these came out. 
> 
> Enjoy!

 

**THE AMAZING HAWKEYE**

**_From center ring to the world’s stage, Clint Barton takes aim and never misses_ **

By: Sally Ford

_Vanity Fair_

 

 _MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, New York City_ \-- The restaurant is a small Shawarma place on a side street in Manhattan; seven tiny round tables fill the area in front of the counter, mismatched chairs gathered on the cracked tile floor.  At three in the afternoon, there’s only Ahmed Abbasi, the owner, cleaning the counter and his mother Fashi sweeping the floor when Clint Barton walks through the door, leaning heavily on his cane and wearing sunglasses on a cloudy day.

 

He greets Ahmed with a wave and hugs Fashi, saying something in Arabic that makes the woman smile.  Wearing a grey leather Diesel jacket, a matching grey henley, and snug black jeans, he takes a moment to fill his cup with soda before he eases down in a chair. The afternoon sun throws his face into relief, his craggy features highlighted in light and shadow.

 

“Sorry about rescheduling,” he says. “The kids had a 24-hour stomach bug right in the middle of that other incident. It was a crazy few days.”

 

The other incident he refers to was an attack by H.Y.D.R.A. at New York University a week earlier.  As one of the original six members of the Avengers, Barton’s life is often interrupted by villains and world-ending crises. Asked if he ever gets used to it, he brushes off a life of seemingly unending battle and shifts the subject to raising kids.

 

“Scariest thing I’ve ever done is sending them off to school in the morning,” he admits, sipping on the straw, cup held in his calloused fingers. “It’s a dangerous world out there and I’m not just talking about H.Y.D.R.A. or Victor Von Doom.”

 

How a Midwest boy ended up a hero on a first name basis with Tony Stark and Director Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a quintessential rags-to-riches story complete with a tragic past and overcoming long odds.  But Barton doesn’t see it that way; he’s just a survivor. “Lots of others had it worse than me; some had it better. Doesn’t matter in the end; it’s what you do with the time you’ve been given that’s important.”

_By Sarah Dunn_

 

Waverly, Iowa is a quintessential midwest town where the biggest crop is corn and American flags still fly from front porches.  The welcome sign boasts a population of 4,200 and proudly proclaims itself as the home of Hawkeye, an Avenger and the World’s Greatest Marksman.  That’s a far cry from the days when little Clinton Francis Barton haunted the halls of Waverly Elementary School and went unnoticed by almost everyone.

 

“He was a scrawny kid, all elbows and knees and bones,” Emily Randolph, his first-grade teacher, said. “Sat in the back and barely said a word when he wasn’t hiding in the cabinets or behind his desk.”

 

It was an open secret that Harold Barton was a mean drunk and even worse father. He married Edith Frasier in 19-- and, in the eleven years they were married, the police made over twenty visits to the house on domestic disturbance calls.  Children’s Protective Services had an ongoing case file for both of the Barton boys, and the school had their own paperwork trail of bruises and excuses.

 

“Every time I tried to push the matter, get some sort of help, I ran into a wall,” Randolph said. “I was the new teacher, wet behind the ears, and they said I’d come to understand the wheels ran slow. I remember packing an extra sandwich and leaving it on Clint’s desk so I could be sure he ate something that day. It was the least I could do.”

 

The files end abruptly on May 12, 19-- when Harold swerved off the road and hit a tree, killing both himself and his wife instantly.  Harold’s blood alcohol limit was three times the limit, and when caseworkers went to gather up Clint and his brother, the boys were locked in a closet.  Within two days, they were shuffled into the foster care system where, after a series of home placements didn’t work out, they were housed in the St. Francis Orphanage in Sioux Falls, Iowa.  There’s no notation in the paperwork for how long before they ran away.

_By Sarah Dunn_

 

“Sounds like a tall tale, I know,” Barton says with a laugh, his eyes alight with humor. “But we really did run off and join the circus.  They were going to split us up, Barney and me, and we didn’t want that. So we skipped out.”

 

When asked about his time performing, Barton tells a number of stories about life on the road and the people he met. The bearded lady who taught him to make borscht. The trapeze performers who treated him like one of the family. The long days practicing, and the winters with little money to spare. He spins a good yarn, but there’s a thread of sadness that he can’t hide, a little boy who dreamed of more than bleeding fingers and an empty stomach.

 

“It’s damn hard work, that’s for sure, and there’s nothing romantic about it.  When you’re fourteen and got no one but yourself to rely on, you find out real quick just what you’ll do to survive.” He shrugs. “Still, I wouldn’t be who I am today without that experience, you know?  Learned some valuable lessons about life and myself in that center ring.”

 

He doesn’t mention his ex-mentor, Jacques Duquesne, who tried to kill him before turning to a life of crime.  Calling himself Trickshot, Duquesne racked up a long list of despicable deeds before Hawkeye brought him to justice. But Barton will talk about his brother’s abandonment and long estrangement that has recently ended.

 

“Barney and I, well, you don’t grow up like we did and not end messed up some way.  I was lucky as hell to get recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D. by someone who saw potential in me. Barney didn’t get that chance at redemption for a long time. Our relationship is still a work in progress but we’re getting there. He’s working steady now, finally got sober, and he’s part of mine and my family’s life, so I count that as a win.”

 

__

_By Sarah Dunn_

 

There’s little in the way of records of Barton’s life from the time he left the circus until the Battle of New York.  He admits to making poor choices and running with a bad crowd, falling into a life of petty crime and then mercenary work. His official S.H.I.E.L.D. biography puts his recruitment date as September 22, 20-- and is light on any other details.  

 

But for those with contacts in the espionage community, Barton’s name sends ripples of unease and causes voices to drop to whispers; criminals and fellow spies remember Strike Team Delta and the ruthlessly efficient way they successfully completed missions. That his partner was Natasha Romanoff, the red-haired Russian assassin known as the Black Widow who switched sides to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. and then became an Avenger as well, only adds to the legend.  

 

Of all the rumors, the story of Budapest is a tale that keeps bad guys awake at night. The people willing to talk about it insist on deep cover before they’ll say a word and even then they speak only in generalities. A child slavery ring, a psychopathic terrorist, government corruption, and a gun battle that left over twenty men dead. Arrows that rained death on rapists and abusers. Two against a whole city block.

 

“Three,” is all Barton says when asked. “There were three of us.” He gives the kind of smile that might send villains running. “A badass reputation is worth its weight in gold in this line of work, but it’s mostly exaggeration. Mostly.”

_By Sarah Dunn_

 

“The Avengers Initiative?”  Barton snorts then eats another bite of his gyro, chewing thoughtfully. “Everyone thought Nick was crazy, but he made it work. Personally, I never saw myself as part of any superhero crew but here I am, average human guy paling around with super soldiers and gods.”

 

In the forty-two minutes between the opening of an interdimensional gateway over Manhattan and Iron Man flying a nuclear bomb through it, Clint Barton went from anonymous S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to Hawkeye, one of the original Avengers. In the years that followed, he became a fixture on the team, mentoring younger members, getting married, adopting children, and battling aliens, monsters, and supervillains on an almost daily basis. But it was that first fight in New York City that changed everything.

 

“When it was over, I had to face some truths,” he says, “the hardest of which was the fact that I wasn’t getting any younger and I had to quit wasting time. If Tony hadn’t redirected that nuke, that would have been it, the end of my story. But he did and the best thing I could do was get off my ass and grab what life was offering with both hands.”

 

Specifically, Barton means the man who would become his husband, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, the third member of Strike Team Delta, who almost died in the battle trying to stop Loki.  

 

“Yeah, well, he’s the best thing that ever happened to me.” Barton’s whole demeanor changes when he talks about him; he looks years younger, a sheepish grin and boy-like charm evident. “I don’t deserve him, but I’m going to take him as long as he’ll have me.”

 

Barton’s marriage has been one of the flashpoints around the Avengers;  numerous groups including the American Family Association, The Watchdogs, and Westboro Baptist Church have been vocal about an Avenger being out-of-the-closet.  Protests and picket lines are common occurrences around Stark Tower and Avengers compounds. His personal life has been at the center of recent presidential politics when candidates were asked their position on heroes being role models for the LGBT lifestyle.

 

“Doesn’t bother me,” he insists. “You love who you love, man;  my life is a thousand times better since I got him to agree to put a ring on it.  People can think what they want, but you set an example by what you do, not what you say.  We all gotta share this world; best thing we can do is be nice to each other.”

 

_By Sarah Dunn_

 

If his life changed when he became an Avenger, it shifted again when he and his husband adopted six years ago. He’s understandably short on details when it comes to his kids, but doesn’t think twice about sharing his love and pride; as he starts to talk about them, the sun comes out, and he beams, his whole countenence changing.

 

“They’re amazing,” he gushes. “I mean, you always hear people say it, but there’s no way to be prepared for how different things are after you have kids. They’re the reason I get up in the morning, the reason I go to work, the reason I want to come home as soon as I can. Puts so much shit in perspective when you realize there’s this next generation right there, watching you, needing you. Yeah,  I just …”

 

He sips his soda and tucks the emotion away before continuing.

 

“I’d do anything to protect them. Anything.” He leans in, setting his jaw as steel blossoms in the blue-grey depths of his eyes.“I want to be really clear. Anyone has a problem with me, we can go a round or two. I’m a big boy and I can handle it, give as good as I get. But you come after my kids, you cross a line; I will find you and end you. Kids should be off limits. Period.”

_By Sarah Dunn_

 

When the Human Liberation Front orchestrated a combined attack on seven countries four months ago, Barton’s children were in the line of fire; they were kidnapped and held hostage, his son’s teacher killed, and their school destroyed. During the retrieval mission that followed, Barton suffered a number of injuries that have taken him off the team roster for the foreseeable future.  

 

“It’s a job for young folks,” Barton says, stretching out his leg and resting a hand on his knee brace. “Or those with special abilities who can take the hits and keep getting up. Me, I’ve known this was coming for quite a while. The spirit is willing as they say …” He chuckles. “Doesn’t mean I’m quitting, though; Cap might be at the front of the battle, but there's lots of work to be done. Training the newbies, running ops, even doing interviews like this. I’m still Hawkeye and have a lot to offer. Plus, I get to be home more with the kiddos, see them grow up, be around, ya’ know? That’s more than enough.”  

 

As the interview finishes up, Barton cleans off the table and gets a refill for the road. He balks at the last question, whether we need super-powered humans to protect us and what he thinks about the whole Humans First movement, taking a long moment to think about his words before he answers.

 

“Need them?  Kinda a moot point. They’re here already; might as well use what they offer to do some good ‘cause if you put ‘em in a box, you’re just creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Thing is, some have brown hair, some blonde, some can run really fast and others can bend steel; we’re more alike than we are different.”  He tilts his head and quirks up one corner of his mouth. “As to the other, well, a guy in a spangly suit once said, when I see a man standing above everybody else, we’re going to have a disagreement, and I tend not to argue with Cap, especially when he’s right. Then there’s that other dude who said the first shall be last, the last first.  We’re all humans and it’s not about who gets to be at the head of the table; it’s about ensuring everyone gets a seat.”

 

His phone beeps as he holds the door open; his smile spreads wide as he shows the picture, a dog with its head trapped in a plastic bin, legs hanging above the ground as it tries to get at the kibble stored inside.  Chaos reigns around it, scattered boxes and tipped over the trash can.

 

“Superhero, my ass. Can’t train the dog not to destroy the kitchen.”  

 

He’s chuckling as he walks away, disappearing into the crowded rush hour sidewalk.

 

 

 


	2. Pressing the Flesh and Buying influence:  Senator Garry Stern’s connection to the Human Liberation Front and his long history of Sexual Harassment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Senator Stern appears in the Iron Man 2 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Officially he has no first name, so I've given him the first name of the actor who played him, Garry Shandling. Wolfgang Von Strucker is from Captain America comics, appeared in Age of Ultron, and also on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Dr. Fredrich List is from Age of Ultron as well. 
> 
> The women are all OCs, except for the one Representative who's name seems really familiar ... ;)

**Pressing the Flesh and Buying influence:  Senator Garry Stern’s connection to the Human Liberation Front and his long history of Sexual Harassment**

By: Ronan Farrow

_The New Yorker_

_Photograph by Phil Sheldon / Marvel_

 

On Capitol Hill, Senator Garry Stern is known for his no-nonsense attitude when it comes to protecting America’s military men and women along with his sense of humor and love of a good martini.  Whether challenging Tony Stark or chastising the Army for $1000 toilet seats, Stern has built a reputation as a hard-hitter, serving as the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee. That many people dislike him, he takes as a badge of honor, claiming it’s his job to “piss off those who want to harm the U.S.”  

 

Now, his whole career is being called into question by a series of allegations of sexual harassment and bombshell revelations of connections to the Humans First movement. The story has all the hallmarks of an espionage thriller the likes of John Le Carre, but with real life implications that may, literally, mean life or death for some Americans.

 

Margarita Sanchez was seventeen when she met Senator Stern at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.  Idealistic, filled with energy, she signed up as a volunteer, awed by Stern’s rhetoric and policies and the personal emails he sent inviting her to join the team.  Cups of coffee in his office became working dinners where conversation veered to questions about who she was dating. More physical advances like hands on her thigh and offers of foot rubs followed.

 

“It was a full court press,” Sanchez says, “and I was young and dumb and didn’t realize what was happening until he had me pressed against his door and was shoving his tongue down my throat.”  

 

Sanchez remembers telling Stern’s campaign manager, Robin Guerrero, about the unwanted advanced. She was told that Stern was a good guy who was doing great things. The message was clear; “nothing was going to change,” she said.

 

“I thought I could deal with it, never be alone with him, but he kept finding ways to touch me.”  One of his favorite tricks was to come up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders; if she flinched or pulled away, he’d say he was simply giving her a massage and blame her for overreacting.  

 

For Lily Polanski, it was a chance meeting in D.C. at the bar where she worked; she remembers Stern gave her a $50 tip for two martini lunch then was waiting for her outside when she went to smoke a cigarette. “He flat out said I owed him a kiss,” she recalls. “I punched him in the stomach and told my boyfriend, the bartender. Two days later, I get a letter from a lawyer with a non-disclosure agreement and a check for $2000. Damn straight I cashed it, but I also called my friend in Philly and told her to never vote for the bastard.”  

 

Being chased around Stern’s desk was the last straw for Yasmin Cartoff; after temping for Senator Ashton Allen, she took a job in Stern’s office and expected to settle in for a career as a congressional staffer.  Seven months later, after refusing advance after advance, she quit and returned home to Alfred, New York, unable to find another position on the Hill. “He blackballed me. Told them I was angry because he wouldn’t leave his wife for me. If it hadn’t been for Senator Allen helping me get a job at the university here, I don’t know what would have happened.”

 

In all three women’s cases, friends and family confirm their stories. Sanchez told her mother; she supported her daughter but worried that no one would believe her because the father wasn’t in the picture. Polanski’s boyfriend, now her husband, noted the event in his day calendar, a habit he’d gotten into as part of his return to civilian life after a stint in Afghanistan.  For Senator Allen, now a diplomat and living in Paris, he admits having heard the rumors and helping Cartoff get out of the situation.

 

“Yasmin would never do that; she was the epitome of professional while she worked for me. Stern, on the other hand, well, let’s just say I’d believe her over him easily,” he says. “Looking back, I should have delved deeper; I regret that.”

 

When Sanchez quit, she didn’t know about the others; only the four women named in this article have agreed to go on the record, but some are afraid to come forward, concerned about their reputations and families. Like Sanchez, many of them filed the experience away as a hard life lesson and moved on.

 

But then Sanchez turned on her television and saw a familiar face.  

 

“He was the son of one of Stern’s biggest donors,” Sanchez says. “He came by a couple of times and had lunch with Guerrero while his dad was in closed-door conferences with the senator. I mean, that wasn’t unusual; the more powerful the man, the more hush-hush things were about visits. Wouldn’t have thought twice about the Werner … we never crossed paths … until I saw him in that interview on the news.”

 

The son’s name was Werner Von Strucker, and he is now the self-proclaimed leader of the Human Liberation Front, the group that claims responsibility for last month’s attacks on what they deemed as “mutant breeding grounds” -- daycares and schools for gifted and special needs children in seven countries. As CEO  of Andreas Corporation, a Fortune 500 business, his father, Wolfgang Von Strucker, has been at the center of an ongoing international investigation in illegal practices and use of forced labor.

 

“I did a double take.  Stern and Von Strucker definitely knew each other. And to realize that Werner had a hand in killing all those kids and their teachers?  I was stunned.”

 

Now a congressional aide to newly elected representative Aurora Oliverio-Cornet, Sanchez immediately told her boss; the two women took the complaint to the party leadership where they were met with concerned courtesy, but, ultimately, not a lot of action. “They smiled, took my statement, then politely thank me for coming forward. Six weeks passed and not a single word; they’ve done nothing. I kept asking and they said they were investigating. Finally, one of the staffers told me it was just my word over Stern’s and he was denying all the allegations. He told them I had been obsessed with him and was trying to destroy him because he turned me down.”  

 

With Oliverio-Cornet in her corner, Sanchez decided to bring her story to the media because, as she says, “this is not a he said, she said situation anymore. This is about a U.S. Senator being in bed with some nasty people.”

 

Of the list of names of people who worked for the senator’s campaign at the time provided by Sanchez, seven others corroborate her story about Werner and Wolfgang Von Strucker’s visits.  Two remember the elder Von Strucker arriving with another man, a Dr. List. “He [List] was an odd duck,” Amy Wocalster says. “Scared of his own shadow but gave off creepy vibes. Lots of the donors did, though. They looked down on peons like me.”

 

As a consultant to Andreas Corp, Dr. Friedrich List also worked for a long list of pharmaceutical companies until his death in April of 20--.  His publications include a number of articles about genetic mutation; one of his last projects was a synthetic hormone blocker that, he wrote, would chemically inhibit certain genetic markers.  “While not a long-term cure, this drug has the potential to neuter certain mutations, rendering the patient unable to utilize the corresponding power.”

 

“Chemical castration.  That’s what this is. Like a lobotomy for genetics.” Dr. Charles Xavier, a renowned expert in genetic mutation, doesn’t mince words when shown Dr. List’s conclusions. “Even his own data shows how devastating this drug would be; mortality rates of the rats he used in his testing were upwards of 70% and yet he still saw it as a viable option for human beings.”

 

According to Wolcaster, the elder Von Strucker and Dr. List visited Senator Stern numerous time in the two years she worked as his receptionist.  And not just at his office in Pennsylvania, but D.C. and on various trips abroad.

 

“Stern is a foodie; he loved to try different restaurants and let donors pick up the tab, and he loved to play basketball with a whole group of guys,” Wolcaster says. “We called them the brain trust because Stern always joked they didn’t have a full thought between them.”  

 

Stern’s weekend pick up games are the stuff of legends; the people who play range from Washington elites to CEOs to Hollywood famous.  David Geffen, Alexander Pierce, T J Miller, and Harvey Weinstein all have attended. And yet, they’re shrouded in secrecy. Very few pictures exist and no one talks about them.  To protect their privacy, one person said off the record. “It’s a time and place where you can be yourself, hang out, have a beer, shoot some hoops; everyone needs to release some steam and not worry about parsing every word you say.”  

 

Le Manhatten Bistro is one of Stern’s favorite places in Wilkes-Barre; the owner has framed photos of the senator on the wall and always keeps a table ready when he hears Stern’s in town.  “He’s especially fond of our bouillabaisse and always has a slice of apple tart,” Head Chef Jonathan Minor says.

 

Both owner and chef confirm that both Von Struckers, father and son, along with List, have been frequent guests of the Senator; as recently as six weeks ago, the elder Von Strucker had lunch with Stern.  “Werner stopped coming about a year ago,” Minor says. “I remember because I asked his father what he was up to; last I’d heard he was going to Yale. He told me Werner was off finding himself; Strucker didn’t seem too happy about it.”

According to the Human Liberation Front’s website, Werner Von Strucker joined the fledgling movement two years ago in 20--.  He quickly stepped into a position of leadership and has been a key figure in the development of the movement. “Werner brought passion and intelligence,” says a HaLF member who wishes to remain anonymous.  “He’s well-spoken, eloquent, and very committed to the cause. We needed someone like him to bring us together, take us into the next phase.”

 

“It’s chilling,” Sanchez says, “to see what looks like the all-American boy who had every privilege in life spewing such hatred on those videos.  It’s unfathomable, killing children; what kind of monster does that?”

 

Andreas Corporation issued a statement following the tragic deaths.  It says, in part, “we condemn the action of the Human Liberation Front in the harshest personal terms.”  Wolfgang Von Strucker also released his own statement about his son’s actions: “like any parent who loves their child, I am trying to process this heinous act. I ask for your respect and understanding as my family and I wrestle with what Werner’s done.”  

 

When asked for a comment on this article, Senator Stern’s Chief of Staff sent a one sentence reply.  “We categorically deny any connection between the Senator and Werner Von Strucker’s activities.” Robin Guerrero, who now works for Trask Industries as head of Public Relations, did not reply to our request for an interview.  

 

“Wolfgang Von Strucker and Senator Stern are old friends,” Andreas Corporation Media Relations Chef Gideon Malik responded.  “They attended school together but have no business dealings.” When asked about Dr. List, Malik insists List never worked for Andreas despite List’s curriculum vitae claiming otherwise.

 

One person who is willing to talk is Aurora Oliverio-Cornet. “It’s a web of connections,” she says. “I’m pushing to open an investigation into Senator Stern.  The sexual harassment is bad enough, but chemical castration? Anti-mutant sentiment? A link to HaLF? We have a responsibility to police ourselves and I intend to ensure Rita, the other women, the teachers, the children … all of them … have their voices heard.”


	3. TRASK INDUSTRIES BUILDING MUTANT KILLING TERMINATORS ON GOVERNMENT DIME

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trask Industries is from various X-Men comics, and particularly I'm building off of X-Men: Days of Future Past where Bolivar Trask was played by Peter Dinklage. 
> 
> Senator Stern is from Iron Man 2 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.   
> Senator Ellen Nadeer from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ... and a right nasty piece of work she is.

**TRASK INDUSTRIES BUILDING MUTANT KILLING TERMINATORS ON GOVERNMENT DIME**

_ By: Eddie Brock _

_ New York Bulletin _

 

20th Century Fox

 

According to Bolivar Trask, President and CEO of Trask Industries, his multi-million dollar government contract to build a fleet of sentient robots is the future of policing and security.  “There are new enemies out there,” he said in a hearing before the Armed Services Committee last April, “and we need a new weapon in this war.” 

 

Dubbed Sentinels, the machines would be a “line in the sand to protect mankind,” Trask concluded, “to stand between us and exponential threats.”  

 

Championed by Senator Stern of Pennsylvania and Nadeer of New York, the Sentinel project has already produced two working prototypes; production is expected to swing into full gear in the next month.  Projected income for Trask Industries is somewhere past ten million dollars of the taxpayer’s money. 

 

But documents obtained by this reporter show Trask’s creations are more than simple shields against danger as he claims. The robots are outfitted with more weaponry than an F-16, some specifically tailored to neutralize super abilities.  

 

They are superhero and mutant killing machines. 

 

The most recent model includes a laser that can heat matter to 3.6 million degrees, fingers that house needles to deliver specially designed tranquilizers in doses lethal to normal human beings, and over 300 pounds of torque,  three times that of a car crusher in a junkyard. Armed with GPS trackers better than military grade, rocket boosters that can propel it into space, and an unlimited solar battery with enough power to light a medium-sized U.S. city, Sentinels will be able to face down almost any mutant. 

 

But, even more than armament, the very blueprint of their neural network, their coding and basic programming, does not differentiate one mutant from another.  Once a mutant ability is detected, the Sentinel is designed to neutralize regardless of the person’s identity; whether Victor Von Doom or Captain American, when a Sentinel locks on a target, it will engage. 

 

“I’m beyond speechless,”  Douglas Ramsey, professor of artificial intelligence at M.I.T., said upon viewing the files.  “This is more than recklessness; it’s an intentional violation of the three laws of robotics. These Sentinels are not just designed to identify and track mutants, they’re hunter-killers right out of  _ Terminator _ .”  

 

When asked about the Sentinels programming and weaponry, Roderick Campbell, Vice-President of Development and Design at Trask refused to answer, directing all inquiries to their lawyer, Benjamin Donovan, who released the following statement: 

 

“Trask Industries believes in the rule of law and has no comment on the scurrilous accusations based upon falsified documents leaked to the so-called press.  We have always worked for the betterment of the world and place the utmost value on the protection of human life. Legal proceedings are underway to find and prosecute those responsible for these fake stories about the very important Sentinel program.” 

 

Bolivar Trask is currently out-of-the-country and couldn’t be reached for comment. 

  
  
  



	4. A Voice of Hate in America’s Liberal Mecca

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In November of 2017, the New York Times printed an in depth feature piece on a white supremacist living in the heartland of America. It's whitewashed tone and strange attempt to 'humanize' a neo-nazi was roundly criticized and rightfully made the poster child for what's wrong with American media. I've included a link to the original at the beginning of this chapter. 
> 
> Here, I'm using that article as a template for this portrait of Brock Rumlow, aka Crossbones. I've used images of Frank Grillo, the actor who portrays Rumlow in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War. 
> 
> Also mentioned in here is Werner Von Strucker, son of Wolfgang Von Strucker. Werner is from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Wolfgang is a H.Y.D.R.A. leader in both comics and the movies.

A Voice of Hate in America’s Liberal Mecca

By: Ben Urlich 

_ The New York Bulletin _

[Original Article  [ Here ](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/25/us/ohio-hovater-white-nationalist.html) ]

  


Brock Rumlow at work.  Photo by Peter Parker for the _ New York Bulletin _

  
  


_ Bedford-Stuyvesant, New York _ \-- Brock Rumlow likes to show off his Special Forces tattoo, the one he got when he mustered out two years ago.  He and the rest of his team, the men he calls his brothers, all have one. To him, it’s a badge of honor, a reminder of a time when duty and friendship were the most important things in his life. 

 

“When you’re out there, under fire in hostile territory, staying alive is the number one priority.”  He sips at his beer, swirling the amber liquid in his glass. “It’s simpler; you either trust the people around you to have your back or you’re dead.”

 

These days, Rumlow finds life to be much more complicated; he watches the news, sees superheroes flying around the streets, and worries about alien space whales crashing into his building.  Since the advent of the Avengers on the world’s stage, there’s less space for guys like him, regular joes as he calls himself, who risk their lives to help others. But when he complains about rising insurance rates or how dangerous it is to live near Stark Tower, more and more of his neighbors and friends are starting to listen. 

 

“Everyone is waiting for some spandex-wearing hero to come save them,” Rumlow says. “They’ve forgotten how to help themselves, to help each other.  We need to remember the men and women that bullets don’t bounce off of, the ones who’ve been working their asses off without the fanfare and parades.” 

 

Sitting in an Irish pub not far from where Steve Rogers grew up, Rumlow doesn’t raise so much as an eyebrow among the hipster crowd that comes in after work.  The skull’s head tattoo on his upper arm goes unremarked, as do his opinions about mutants and the purity of the human race. He uses Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to pass along his message of human liberation, sharing memes and cat videos alongside short clips of speeches by the likes of Werner Von Strucker and Adolf Hitler.  

 

“Got a right to state what I believe.” Rumlow smiles, sharp cheekbones softening in the dim light. “I fought for the right of every American to say what they think.  Basically, I’m a true believer of the First Amendment.”

 

Rumlow looks less like a zealot and more like any blue collar guy trying to make ends meet.  He loves vintage motorcycles, arriving on a ‘55 Harley Davidson Panhead; after he left the military, he started working as a mechanic.  But rising housing costs in his old neighborhood drove him into a smaller apartment further out from the city, and the street battles with the villain of the week made his commute difficult and more expensive. Two years ago, he met a guy at a VA group therapy session and followed him to a meeting of The Watchdogs. 

 

In their manifesto, The Watchdogs talk about protecting the vulnerable from the excesses of powered people.  Although the group says it doesn’t condone violence, the Anti-Defamation League lists at least seventeen acts that caused damage to property and harm to humans that are linked to the group.  On their website, they sell a “Humans First” baseball cap for $20. 

 

Scars run down the side of Brock Rumlow’s cheek, left by an IED that exploded and killed two of his team members.  His true face, he calls it, a road map of where he’s been and a reminder he survived. Survival is one of the words Rumlow uses to describe the threat he sees to the very continued existence of the human race. 

 

“It’s a battle,” he says, “for what we are and what we want to be. The human genome is being overwritten and no one wants to stop long enough to think about the consequences, how the mutations and super serums change the balance.  We don’t have a reason, we just go plunging ahead.” He pauses to quote Jordan Peterson: “If took untold generations to get where we are. A little gratitude might be in order. If we’re going to insist on bending the world to our way, we better have our reasons.”

 

Growing up the son of a Brigadier General, Rumlow moved around every few years. His father was a by-the-books leader, his mother a homemaker known for her lemon cake.  An athlete, Rumlow quickly found himself a star of the team in every new place. That he’d enlist was a foregone conclusion; with less than stellar grades, he chose a path that fit his skills; he graduated top of his class and quickly rose in the ranks. 

 

Rumlow is insistent that he doesn’t want to harm to come to anyone but he does support a mutant registration act. “For their own protection,” he says. “Look, I don’t have a problem with individual Supes -- I served with a couple and they were great guys -- but as a whole, humans are panicky creatures and we need rules to co-exist.”

 

Whatever he says in this interview, online he presents a different persona.  On Facebook, he posts gruesome pictures of civilians who die in superhero battles and links to articles by right-wing groups that support chemical castration for mutants  His twitter has been suspended twice for incendiary language.; he routinely replies to Captain America’s posts with angry rants. 

 

The day after the destruction of the schools and daycares, Rumlow posted, “Today is when we take a stand for our own.”  He shrugs when asked about the tweet then assures me he condemns the deaths wholeheartedly. “Kids are kids, man. They can’t help how they’re born; it’s the parents who encourage them.”

 

For many members of HaLF, there’s a sense that this is all a grand jest; when confronted with vitriolic posts, they claim it’s all a game and the world doesn’t have a sense of humor anymore.  On the HaLF website, they sell t-shirts emblazoned with the phrase “None Shall Pass,” a reference to a famous scene in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Pictures of the members LARPing, an acronym for Live Action Role Play, suggests they’re just dressing up and pretending to be knights or wizards. But the movement is not a joke; The Watchdogs claim over 2,500 members in the United States while HaLF says they have branches in seventeen countries. 

 

Moira MacTaggert, a government analyst who keeps track of various fringe groups, estimates that HaLF has no more than a couple of hundred active members. What worries her is the number of Americans who are sympathetic to the anti-mutant rhetoric; there may be tens of thousands who privately agree with HaLF’s arguments. 

 

“It’s an Us or Them mentality.  When we think of others as a group, not individuals, it’s easy to set them up as the root of all our problems.  We’re the good guys, on the right side and they’re the reason things aren’t going the way we want,” she explains. “If it’s all them, then we absolve ourselves of any blame.”

 

HaLF and Watchdogs members are overwhelmingly male and white; most come from middle to low-income households, and a large number of the rank and file are underemployed.  MacTaggert’s recent statistics show a hefty percentage also espouse views that are anti-women and anti-semitic; the racial makeup, however, is very diverse in the organizations. 

 

Rumlow recently wrote an opinion piece for the HaLFblog linking the history of the feminist movement to the rise of mutant births.  “As women enter the workforce, they are waiting later and later to conceive; the older the mother, the more likely anomalies and genetic defects will appear in their children,” he argued. “It’s time to address the elephant in the room; we need two parents with a woman at home to raise the kids.”

Brock Rumlow and his bike. Photo by Peter Parker for the  _ New York Bulletin _

Sipping his beer, Rumlow waxes poetic about his ideal world where mutants have the choice to be cured, superheroes are beholden to an international governing body, and the military is the first line of defense for alien threats.  

 

“We can’t count on a handful to do the job of an army.”  He pauses to raise a hand to a couple that enters the bar; they wave in return before snagging a table in the back.  “It’s not fair to them or to us. And we definitely can’t rely upon an antiquated myth of human goodness; for every so-called ‘good’ Supe, there are bad ones out there.  Someone’s got to be able to keep them in line.”

 

Click on ‘About Us’ on the HaLF website and a list of position papers appear. From the mutant registration act -- they heartily endorse Senator Ellen Nadeer’s comprehensive bill -- to the United Nations Superhero Accords -- they’re skeptical about the U.N.’s “will to enforce” -- the group isn’t reticent about stating solutions to what they see as the world’s problems.  

 

“Look at the Sentinel program that Trask Industries is developing,” Rumlow continues. “Take the human element out of the equation so emotions and biases don’t get in the way. Robots are the future of security and policing, mark my words.”  

 

Walking to his bike, Rumlow slips into his battered jacket, a snug fitting black leather that fits perfectly with his rough-around-the-edges image.  He’s got to get home to feed his dog, a mutt he rescued from the pound, worried the chocolate lab will chew more of his shoes. His alarm is set for 5:30 a.m. in the morning; he’s got a full slate of cars to fix and a V.A. meeting tomorrow night. 

 

“I’m not a monster,” he offers as he straddles the Harley and starts the engine. “They created the monsters; I’m just a guy who wants to have his say.”

  
  
  
  
  



	5. Critical Mass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phil comes home from work to find his house full of plans and Avengers.

“Jesus, remind me never to get on your bad side.” Tony tossed a newspaper at Clint’s head; he caught it without looking up. “But I am enjoying watching these guys are getting ripped to shreds.”   

 

Clint unfolded  _ The Washington Post _ .  “Trask Creating Frankenstein’s Monsters!” the main headline read.  Below the fold was a full-color picture of Senator Stern surrounded by cameras and microphones. 

 

“Yeah, well, I’ll feel better when they’re behind bars.”  Steve stopped at the fridge and grabbed a cold bottle of water.  “How’s Bella feeling? Did you take her to the doctor?” 

 

“Bruce said it was viral, so there’s nothing the doctor can do.” Clint flattened out the newsprint and scanned the articles, tagging, cataloging then entering them into the growing list. He tapped a window and it grew larger; sprawled on a pillow, Bella was sound asleep, Dodger curled next to her. “She’s still congested but her fever’s down. Seems the tried and true lime sherbert and sugar-free ginger ale did the trick.”

 

“You following all these?”  Steve looked over his shoulder, eyes roving over the connecting lines Clint was slowly building. “Wow, I wasn’t sure I believed it would work, but this is intense.” 

 

“Key is keeping the pressure on,” Buck said, snagging the half-empty bottle from Steve’s hand and downing the rest.  “We’re nowhere near critical mass; once enough of the journalist types are on the trail, we’ll bring in other media.”  

 

“Already have three movie scripts in the works; there’s a documentary linking Hitler to Schmidt to Strucker for the _ History Channel  _ and PBS is putting together a  _ Frontline _ episode.”  Clint rolled his chair away from the kitchen countertop, minimizing the windows with a swipe of his hand.  “Got a bit of a bidding war for Duvernay’s biopic of Anna Jemson. Sort of hoping it doesn’t go to Fox but it’s going to be amazing.  She’s talking to Rosario Dawson for the lead.” 

 

“Add Matt Fraction to the list.” Phil came down the hallway; he dropped his briefcase by the couch, put his hands on the back of Clint’s chair, leaned it back and kissed his husband. 

 

“How long have you been married now?”  Tony groused, jumping up to sit on the counter. “And you’re still sickeningly sweet.” 

 

“This is my house in case you’ve forgotten,” Phil reminded Tony. He loosened his tie then took off his jacket, draping it over the back of the couch. “And there’s never going to be a time when I don’t want to tap that very fine ass.” 

 

“Aw, Cinderella loves his prince,” Tony laughed. “Truw Luv!” 

 

“The comic’s a go?”  Clint threw a wadded ball of paper at Tony; it hit him square between the eyes, making him laugh louder. “I’m gonna have my own comic, boys! Suck on that!” 

 

“Cap and Bucky have multiple series,” Tony reminded him. “Me and the Big Guy too.” 

 

“Yeah, but I never get anything on my own, so this is cool.”  Clint caught Phil’s tie and tugged him down for another kiss. “You are so getting a celebratory blow job tonight, buddy,” he said to Phil. 

 

“And on that note.”  Steve nudged Tony. “We should be leaving; we’ve got that meeting with the United Nations Envoys in a couple of hours.” 

 

“Gah, that’s worse than watching Wesley and Buttercup go at it,” Tony groused. 

 

“That one guy you hate is going to be there, the one with the mutton chops and handlebar mustache,” Bucky said. “You can needle him until he cries again.” 

 

“Ooooh, yes.”  Tony hopped down. “You know the way to my heart Barnes. I’ve decided I like you.” 

 

“You coming, Buck?”  Steve asked as they headed towards the stairs to the garage level. 

 

“Nah, Hawkass and I are going over the new info, see what pops,” Bucky said. “And I promised the kids ice cream later.” 

 

“I want ice cream.”  Tony frowned. “Steve?” 

 

“Stay at least 30 minutes and we’ll get some,” Steve promised. 

 

“If I make the asshat cry, I”ll take you to Morgenstern’s; their cinnamon whiskey flavor is the bomb.” 

 

“Now I want Ooey Gooey Cake Batter,” Clint said as the other two left.  “Soon as the Josh is home, let’s load up and go to Ample Hill’s.” 

 

“I’m not sure we should take Bella out …”  Phil was interrupted by a soft ping from Jarvis.  “Yes?” 

 

“Anderson Cooper of CNN  has just shown a promotion video for an interview with Senator Ellen Nadeer’s brother, Vijay, set to air at seven p.m. tonight. I have rough footage from the CNN servers if you’d like to view it now,” the A.I. said. 

 

“Brother? Why would they be …” Clint started the first file that popped up. 

 

“As a mutant yourself, why are you coming forward, putting yourself at risk?” Cooper asked. 

 

“Because the world needs to know exactly what my sister wants to do to all mutants.” In a suit and tie, Vijay looked like a young lawyer or businessman.  “It’s the same thing she tried to do to me; forced conversion therapy and chemical castration. She locked me up against my will and gave me experimental drugs designed by Dr. Fredrich List to ‘save’ me from myself.” 

 

“Oh, holy hell,” Clint breathed.  

 

“Jarvis, start tracking this guy. See where he was kept and we’ll work back from there,” Bucky ordered. 

 

“Is this it? Critical mass?” Clint wondered. 

 

“I think this is just the beginning,” Phil answered. 

  
  



End file.
